10/22 quality?

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tonyben

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
15
Location
North Plains, OR
Hello all. This is my first post, but I am not new to firearms and the fact that certain vintages have advantages and drawbacks. I am typically a Sig and M14 guy and have seen how quality has deteriorated in the recent decade. I have a 10/22 that I bought new in 1999 and I love it. My friend also loves it so much that he wants one just like it!

My question is: are the new off-the-shelf 10/22's of good quality, or should I steer him to an older one? I noticed recent ones have plastic trigger housings while mine is aluminum.

Anything I should be weary of, or are the current ones just as good as older ones? He wants me to help him purchase one on Saturday. The local convenience store stocks NIB 10/22's.

Thanks,
Tony.
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2002
Messages
6,242
Location
Oregon City, Oregon
tonyben":2j0t4joi said:
Hello all. This is my first post, but I am not new to firearms and the fact that certain vintages have advantages and drawbacks. I am typically a Sig and M14 guy and have seen how quality has deteriorated in the recent decade. I have a 10/22 that I bought new in 1999 and I love it. My friend also loves it so much that he wants one just like it!

My question is: are the new off-the-shelf 10/22's of good quality, or should I steer him to an older one? I noticed recent ones have plastic trigger housings while mine is aluminum.

Anything I should be weary of, or are the current ones just as good as older ones? He wants me to help him purchase one on Saturday. The local convenience store stocks NIB 10/22's.

Thanks,
Tony.

Welcome to the Forum!

The finish has changed on 10/22's, and is much less shiny. And, as you've pointed out, the trigger group is now plastic. Some years ago, the barrel band changed to plastic.

But, after a lot of experience with early, middle, and late models, I have found absolutely no change in performance, function, or reliability.

And, at Bi-Mart, a blued version for $179, and the stainless version for $199, is quite a bargain.

If a close friend, or family member, asked me what .22 to buy, I would not hesitate for a second, and I would convince them to buy a 10/22.

WAYNO.
 

tonyben

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
15
Location
North Plains, OR
Thank you very much! I will shop with him with confidence on Saturday.

By the way, my 10/22 is a stainless version with a wood stock and a threaded barrel. I always shoot it suppressed and with a cheap Tasco holosight.

I'll post pics when I get home. :wink:

If anyone needs any M14 or M1A advice, visit me under the same username at the M14 forum at www.m14tfl.com


Cheers,
Tony.
 

mx5fan

Bearcat
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
4
Hello All,

Tony, I'm glad you asked the question. I am currently a pistol shooter and have an interest in purchasing my first rifle, of course a 10/22. I've been reading, looking around at this forum and others...and trying to figure out which one to get. Oh and I'm a woman 5'5" with average arm length, so would a carbine with a little shorter length of pull be a good choice or the compact? Then again I love the look of the Sporter. So many choices....sigh.

Any suggestions and advise regarding which model and finish would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Gents!
 
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Messages
6,242
Location
Oregon City, Oregon
mx5fan":3n2zj6mi said:
Hello All,

Tony, I'm glad you asked the question. I am currently a pistol shooter and have an interest in purchasing my first rifle, of course a 10/22. I've been reading, looking around at this forum and others...and trying to figure out which one to get. Oh and I'm a woman 5'5" with average arm length, so would a carbine with a little shorter length of pull be a good choice or the compact? Then again I love the look of the Sporter. So many choices....sigh.

Any suggestions and advise regarding which model and finish would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Gents!

Welcome to the Forum!

For an adult gal, the carbine should work just fine. If you happen to find a Compact, for a reasonable price, that is still a great option, too. Ya might want to try them both for size.

Otherwise, there are a whole bunch of choices of 10/22 models, as you know. As you fall in love with a 10/22, you might fine tune, later, your preferences. In the meantime, you cannot go wrong with a basic carbine. My preference just happens to be stainless.

WAYNO.
 

mx5fan

Bearcat
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
4
Thanks Wayno.

I'm leaning towards the carbine model myself and if I can find one in stainless with a laminate stock, then I'll probably buy it. Hmm, come to think of it, I haven't seen a carbine in laminate and stainless...do they make them?
 
Joined
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Messages
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mx5fan":3j4zbuzt said:
Thanks Wayno.

I'm leaning towards the carbine model myself and if I can find one in stainless with a laminate stock, then I'll probably buy it. Hmm, come to think of it, I haven't seen a carbine in laminate and stainless...do they make them?

Although not catalogued, right now, different variations of K10/22's with laminated carbine stocks have been available as distributor exclusives. Looking thru the distributor websites, there may or may not be some available, right now.

Check this one out...

http://www.ruger.com/products/1022DE/sp ... /1142.html

WAYNO.
 

BlkHawk73

Hunter
Joined
Dec 30, 1999
Messages
4,459
Location
Maine
Polymer...aluminum...big deal. I'm thinking the polymer one is very likely stronger but regardless, how many incidents of broken ones are there?
Everyone's all up in arms over these things and I'm amazed so many are unable to accept anything changing. ANY change is automatically "bad" and a downgrade. :roll:
 

j.r. ruger guy

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
46
Location
Mapleton Depot, PA
In my experience , i like my older 10/22 carbine a bit better just for the fact that i've owned it longer than the others i have, it's seen rain and lotsa nights layin on the truck seat overnight. never give me a minutes trouble . but i really like my charger to , it's tons of fun to plink with . and very accurate with a bushnell red dot . but the polymer trigger group feels no different to me than the aluminum on my old carbine.
jim
 

tonyben

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
15
Location
North Plains, OR
BlkHawk73":38q6tr7a said:
Polymer...aluminum...big deal. I'm thinking the polymer one is very likely stronger but regardless, how many incidents of broken ones are there?
:roll:

I dunno.......

That's why I came here. :wink: I was hoping that you guys could tell me how many incidents or QC issues there are with the new one if there are any at all. I have been outta the loop concerning 10/22's for many years but would hate to steer a friend the wrong way not knowing if there are things to look for.

Thanks again for any and all input.

Tony.
 
Joined
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Messages
10,426
Location
Greenville, SC: USA
The only problem I've run into with the new 10/22, actually with a poly trigger group on a Charger, but they are the same, is when I changed out the hammer. The safety and sear in the poly group of mine has more play on it and the Voltsquartsen (sp?) hammer would fall if you pulled the trigger with the safety on and then flipped the safety off.

I would say a brand new 10/22 would be fine as long as you don't plan to modify the trigger group... if so, I would spring for a whole new group. This could have been a problem just on mine... but be cautious with this.

If I was going to do any kind of major changes to the 10/22 I was buying I'd go with a used one. if I was going to keep it as factory then I'd go with new.
 

Snake45

Hawkeye
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From what I've heard and read, the new 10/22s with the plastic work just fine. But if I were looking to buy a 10/22, I'd rather do a certain amount of looking for an all-metal one before giving up and buying a new one.

Hardly a month goes by that I don't hear or read of someone scoring a beautiful, old-school, walnut-and-metal 10/22 in a pawn shop, usually for well under retail or even "big box" price for a new one.

I'd at least :wink: look for one of those, first.
 

mrofna

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 6, 2009
Messages
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i have a 1 year old 10/22 with about 10000 rounds through it and it still shoots flawless i love it going to buy another one to trick out with all the goodies ....
 

CraigC

Hawkeye
Joined
May 27, 2002
Messages
5,197
Location
West Tennessee
Lots of folks are pissin' and moanin' about the changes but they would've done the same thing had everything stayed the same but the price went up. I find little fault with the current 10/22's. My Charger does just fine with its plastic trigger housing stuffed full of Power Custom goodies.

As an aside, regardless of what some folks believe, the barrels are NOT painted or powder coated.
 

martyj

Blackhawk
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
643
Location
Nebraska
I haven't heard of anyone wearing one out yet. They do appear to be light and handy and would make a good trapping rifle.
If I had it to do all over again I would take the carbine over the walnut stock stainless version I have. The barrel in my stock tends to shift up against the right side of the stock. You can move it back to center but it will just shift back while shooting.
A little glass bedding and it will be fine. Shoots well though might just leave it alone too.
 

tonyben

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
15
Location
North Plains, OR
As promised, here's a pic of my 10/22, suppressed with a cheap holosight...

My daughter is doing the shooting.
17215094_th.jpg
 

john lee

Bearcat
Joined
Sep 17, 2001
Messages
44
Location
North of Spokane
tonyben":ze5e2uac said:
It's a chain called Bi-Mart here in Oregon. They only stock long guns and reloading equipment. No handguns. I love this state! :D

Moved back to Washington last summer from Oklahoma and became a Bi-Mart member ($5.00). Our Bi-Mart had the wood stocked 10/22s for $199 last week and the synthetic stocked at $179. PBR 18 packs are about eight bucks. Beer and guns, life is good.
 

bjec1248

Bearcat
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
19
I bought a 10/22 at Dick's last year to see what all the fuss was about. I have to say, after a few thousand rounds of everything from cheap, bulk, literally dropped-in-the-dirt Walmart ammo, to mini-mags, that little joker just spits them out down range. I put a cheap scope on it & it is qute accurate. sure, it's not quite as precise as my Savage .22 w/Accu-trigger, but it was 1/2 the price.

it is so reliable & fun to shoot that when my 80 year-old dad asked me what rifle he should buy for everything from shooting cans to home defense, I told him to get a 10/22. he did, & he loves it.
 

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